Jaundice... I'm so frightened

MPapailiou · Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:30 am Post subject: Jaundice... I'm so frightened

Hi all...

I'm so sad and frightened. My poor mom has become totally yellow. Her skin on her face is deep yellow and so is the white area of her eyes. She has developed jaundice, because of the liver failure. We keep telling her that she's not that yellow and everything is ok, but my heart falls apart every time I look at her...

Mom has been diagnosed eight months ago with lung and liver cancer. Right now she only takes palliative care to handle the pain.

Had any of you experienced this situation with jaundice before?

Many thanks,

Mandy

missumom · Experienced user Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 65

Hi Mandy,

My mom became jaundice the next day after being admitted to the hospital. It was then that she was diagnosed with cancer in the gallbladder, pancreas and liver. Her skin and the whites of her eyes were yellow. We also noticed that whenever she was nervous, she turned a brighter yellow. We laughed at that because we would tell her to relax, that it's not good for her to be stressed and she would tell us that she's calm and we would say, "no you're not, we can tell". She would laugh, too.

Ask the doctor if there is any way of dealing with the jaundice. My mom's doctor suggested putting a stent because the cancer blocked the bile ducts. There was no guarantee that putting a stent would take away the jaundice and after gathering information, the stent could be painful, so we decided not to put a stent. We would sit my mom by the window so that the sun would be on her just like when newborn babies are jaundice, the doctors advised to let the sun shine on them.

I would ask the nurses and doctors, and surf the internet for information. Take care...

purplegirly · New User Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1

Hi there,

My Nan (84) was diagnosed a couple of years back with Bowel cancer and secondarys in the liver and lungs, she developed jaundice about 6 months ago, and i was scared like you and scanned the internet for info. As she was so advanced we didn't think there was anything they could do, but she visited her consultant and they offered her a stent, it can be done as an out patient, or with a stay in hospital.

She made a full recovery from the jaundice, the yellow went, she stopped itching and was not in hardly any pain anymore. It lasted for about 4 months before the tumour growth restricted the stent again, this is quite common apparently, or they can get blocked and the jaundice came back.

She had the stent replaced about a month ago now, and the jaundice has gone again, unfortunatley she got quite a bad infection from the stent this time, and had to go back into hospital, her condition seems to advanced now as well, and I'm not sure she will make it back home now.

The first Stent gave my nan 4 more good months and Christmas with her family though, and at 84 she's was quite week when she had the second one done. If your mum is younger and stronger though there is a good chance she would pull through better, as it is not a major procedure (local anaesthetic). I'm not sure if a stent is availble for all jaundice cases, I think it may depend on the cause of the jaundice, but there is hope.

The main thing I would say is to get an appointment with her consultant quick to discuss options.

I Hope things work out ok for you and your mum.
xx

MPapailiou · Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:51 am Post subject: Re: Jaundice... I'm so frightened

Thank you both for your replies, they were really helpful and gave me strength.
Unfortunately, our doctors say that there is nothing that they can do and they do not recommend stent for her condition. I guess that they do not believe that it would do any good at this stage and that they could make her really uncomfortable.
The good part is that we all got used to it, including her and we make fun of it.
Thanks again,
Mandy

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